The Trap
by tona234angel
Summary: Sequel to A Sister's Life John and Katie are on the YED's tail when John is kidnapped by other demons.  Can Katie and her friend Racheal save him in time? Don't have to read my first story before this one.
1. Chapter 1

_**Chapter 1**_

Somewhere in Georgia, just outside of a little town named Juliete, a black Chevy truck is driving all alone on the 2-lane highway. The driver hasn't seen another car for nearly a hundred miles but that may have something to do with the fact that it's nearly 3 AM. He's tired and knows he should stop for a few hours, but he doesn't want to wake the girl sleeping next to him. Seems the only time she sleeps at all anymore is when they're on the road.

John Winchester looked over at his daughter. Katie was sitting with her back to the passenger door of his truck, her knees pulled up to her chest and arms wrapped around them. Her head was resting at a strange angle against the seat and he wondered for the thousandth time how she could possibly sleep like that. Of course, he also knows that all he has to do is barely whisper her name or decrease his speed and she'll be wide-awake, ready for anything. Even when she was sleeping, he could still see the tension in her muscles. Another thought crosses his mind for the thousandth time since she joined him; she's almost a perfect hunter.

He tried so hard to keep his daughters from the life he raised his boys in. He left them in Lawrence with his beloved Mary's family, hoping they would be taken care of and forget everything that had happened the night their mother was killed. He read the newspaper articles from the entire state of Kansas that was the result of that decision just before he retrieved them. He could still see the first headline clearly in his mind "Twin 8 year old girls escape from 6 years of torture at the hands of their aunt and uncle." He'd found that article while looking for a job, but didn't think then that it was talking about his girls. He probably would have known if he had read more than just the headline.

It took 4 years after their "escape" for him to come looking for them. Pastor Jim had received a letter from Laura begging him to send her father to rescue her and Katie from foster care in the state of Kansas. Jim had done exactly that. He had barely finished reading Laura's letter when he called John to tell him about his daughters. What made things worse was that Dean had known about everything and said nothing.

That's what he gets for assuming his oldest son had forgotten his sisters. He should have known better. Dean has always been fiercely protective of his family, even at the age of two when the girls were born. Just because Dean had never mentioned the girls after leaving Lawrence didn't mean he had forgotten. On the contrary, Dean had Jim find them for him so he could write to them and let them know the rest of the family was ok.

Instead of taking them home with him, he had left them in Nevada with Caleb, with strict orders that they not be trained as hunters. That didn't work at all. Dean had told them everything about what their father was doing in astonishing detail. Laura came up with the idea that if they could show John they could handle themselves, as hunters, that he would finally reunite the family. That idea had cost Laura her life.

There hasn't been a day since that he didn't regret leaving them at Caleb's. He regretted it more that he had never told Sam about the girls. Dean had done that the day Sam graduated from high school. It had caused a rift between his sons and they hadn't spoken to each other in almost 4 years. Course Sam hadn't spoken to John in all that time either, but for another reason. It took John pulling a disappearing act and the death of Sam's girlfriend to bring his sons back together.

John was completely wrapped up in his thoughts about his children when Katie's cell phone rang in her pocket.

"Hello" she answered

"Oh, hi Dean. How'd the asylum gig go?"

"Is he ok?"

"What about you?"

John sat silently, watching the road and listening to his daughter talk to her brother. It still amazed him how close those two were and how so completely alike. Two years on the road with them after Sam had left for college showed him that, right down to their love of fixing cars and classic rock music. Mary had often commented when they were little that Dean and Katie acted more like twins than Laura and Katie did, he just didn't really understand it until Dean was 22 and Katie nearly 20.

When she laughed at something Dean said, it got him thinking of Mary again. Katie sounded just like her mother when she laughed. He was sure that if the girl quit dying her hair that she'd be the spitting image of her mother, but with his eyes and dimples. Those were the only two differences between his girls, which meant that if Laura were alive now, that girl would look exactly like Mary had when he first met her.

"Earth to John." Katie called, snapping him out of his thoughts.

"What's up Katie girl?" John asked her.

"I said, we need to stop soon. You need sleep and you have a phone call to make later this afternoon." she replied.

"You're still gonna make me do that?" he asked, hoping she'd say no, but knowing she wouldn't

"I already told you, me sending them a text message from you doesn't count. Dean is worried sick and he's suspicious that the message came from me. All I'm asking is that you tell them you're ok. Hell send them on another job for all I care, but you're gonna call them."

"Katie, I know you're just trying to stick up for your brothers and ease their minds a little bit, but I don't want them to know where we are."

"I have that covered, all you gotta do is call them from a payphone. I can hack into the system and reroute the call. They'll think you're calling from a payphone in Sacramento instead of small town Georgia. I did pick up a few tricks from my computer genius sister and sneaky little brother, ya know."

"All right, all right. You really have put some thought into this." John said with an exasperated sigh.

Katie got a big smile on her face and replied with a "yes, sir."


	2. Chapter 2

_**Chapter 2**_

They stopped as soon as they hit Juliete and John crashed at the first motel they could find. It was still hard for Katie to believe that she was actually alone with the old man and not trying to beat the crap out of him every second. She still had a lot of hard feelings toward John and still couldn't bring herself to call him dad, but she was finally warming up to him. Caleb had always said that's how it would happen. Sometimes she hated it when her surrogate father was right.

Katie sat at the small table going over her father's research for the millionth time and searching the internet for any new signs of the demon's presence. She was trying hard not to think about her brothers and not succeeding. It kinda bothered her that Sam still wasn't talking to her, but she didn't blame him. She'd spent 2 years at Stanford with him and never told him the truth about herself.

Then there was Dean. He'd been her lifeline through everything and, in a way, she had been his. They helped each other keep their sanity. As far as she was concerned, the whole family owed him everything and she hated the fact that John and Sam acted like nothing he did for them mattered. She hated it more that they treated him that way most of the time too.

After 2 hours of searching for demonic signs, and getting a slight headache in the process, she decided it was time for a quick shower and some breakfast. John would sleep for at least four more hours anyway. She climbed into the shower and let the hot water relax her muscles. It was the only time she could ever completely relax and not let herself worry about what was going to happen to her dad and brothers next.

After Katie finished her shower, she snaked the truck keys from John's pocket without waking him. She stopped to double check the salt lines in the room and that she had her cellphone incase John woke up while she was gone. She thought about giving him a light sedative to make sure that wouldn't happen, but she had the feeling he was starting to catch on to that little trick so she just left.

She didn't really need to take the truck cause the diner was a block away, but she wanted to check things out. She had noticed a different pitch to the engine when she had gotten off the phone with Dean earlier. The change was pretty subtle, so John may not have noticed it. Katie had spend so much time rebuilding cars the 4 years that she lived at Caleb's that it was second nature to her.

The diner down the street was exactly the same has every other one she'd been in during her hunting career. Small, greasy, and kinda cozy in her opinion. She liked being in all those little family run businesses even though it reminded her of the family she never really had, or maybe that's why she liked them so much. Seeing a family working together made her think of what things may have been like for the Winchesters if her mom hadn't died that night, only her family would have been working at the garage instead of a diner.

She ordered her breakfast and coffee when the waitress came and then sat staring out the window at John's truck. She still remembered vividly the night that truck was completely mangled with her dad and brother inside. John had come out with a few minor injuries, but Dean was in a coma for 3 months. She immediately grabbed her cellphone from her pocket and called Dean.

"He-wo" a sleepy voiced answered.

"Awe, was you seeping big brother." she teased.

"I was about to be. What do you want brat?"

"Hey, you better be nice to me peanut brain or I won't give you a birthday present."

Dean laughed and she heard Sam in the background ask him what was so funny. Dean didn't answer him and went back to talking to his sister.

"Everything ok with you Katie?" Dean asked her.

"We're all good, I was just thinking of something and decided to call you." Katie replied.

"We? Who's we?"

"Oh, just me and the voices in my head. They seem to like you for some reason."

"That's right. I forgot the head doctors said you were crazy. And your voices love me. They think I'm funny."

"Yeah, funny looking maybe."

Dean laughed again. Katie never got tired of that sound. It was funny how he always seemed to laugh more around her.

"How's Sam doing?" she asked, "Is he still feeling guilty bout shooting you?"

"Probably. Oh look, he fell asleep finally" Dean said.

"Well, I let you do the same. My breakfast just arrived. I'll call you in a couple days big brother. Sweet dreams."

"Night Katie girl, you stay out of trouble. Don't do anything I wouldn't do."

Katie hung up the phone just as the waitress was refilling her coffee cup. She placed another order to take back to the room with her for John and then ate her breakfast. She was glad Dean never asked her what she had been thinking about that made her call him. She thought about it for a second more and then realized he probably knew already and therefore didn't have to ask. It was scary sometimes that he could read her mind without actually doing it, but she could do the same with him so that made it ok.


	3. Chapter 3

_Thanks for all the great reviews. I'm glad you all like this one. Special thanks to SciFiNutTX for playing beta or me._

_**Chapter 3**_

Katie stopped by a parts store to pick up a new air filter for the truck and then headed back to the motel. John was still sleeping when she got there, but the smell of coffee woke him up a few minutes later. She set up his breakfast for him at the table while he went to take a quick shower. John thought to himself while he was in the shower that for some one who didn't like her dad very much, she still took pretty good care of him.

She was sitting at her laptop when he came out. Katie looked up at him for a second and then went back to her computer.

"What's that?" John asked.

"Same thing I do everyday," Katie replied, "just looking for the demon."

"No, I mean the bag from the parts store. What's that for?"

"Oh, your truck needs a new air filter, so I picked one up. I was gonna change it out here in a few minutes."

"Did you check the old one?"

"Nope."

"Then how do you know it needs to be changed?"

"Cause there was a different pitch to the engine when I woke up this morning. Next time we stop we should change the oil and flush the radiator."

John just said ok and sat down to eat his breakfast. Katie completely amazed him sometimes. She could tell you exactly what was wrong with a car by hearing the engine run as she drove it around the block. She could also set broken bones by feel, no x-rays necessary. He asked her about the bone trick once and her only was response was that you'd be surprised what you can learn if you have to. Of course going to and completing medical school by the age of 18 probably helped.

"You ready to make your phone call?" Katie asked.

"Not yet, at least let me finish breakfast first." John replied.

"OK, I'll go work on the truck then."

"Do you need the keys?"

"Nope, I got them already."

Katie flashed him a grin and then headed for the door of their room. John watched his daughter walk out of the room and then turned her laptop so he could look something up. He needed to do a little research to send his boys on a job. He wanted to have a real reason for calling them instead of just saying he was ok. He really hated the fact that Katie was blackmailing him into this, but on the other hand, she was right. It wasn't fair to make his boys worry bout him like that.

"What ya doing?" Katie asked.

John nearly jumped out of his skin. He didn't hear Katie come back into the room.

"I hate it when you do that." John said

"I can't help that your hearing isn't as good as it used to be."

Truth was John's hearing was just fine. Katie was just too damn good at sneaking up on people and John still wasn't used to her quirky mannerisms yet.

"You didn't answer my question." Katie stated.

"I'm looking for a job to send the boys on that's close to their location." John replied.

"Oh ok, but you better eat your breakfast before it gets too cold. I can do the research. There's this thing in Indiana Caleb told me about. I just need to find the general area and get a few more details and then the boys can do the rest"

John went back to his breakfast. In between bites, he would watch Katie work. By the time he was finished, she handed him a list of names and a small description of what was going on. The description said that every year for the last 50 years or more a couple that goes on a cross-country road trip vanishes, always on the second week of April. The only thing the couples had in common was that their trips all went through the same part of Indiana. Below the description were the names of three towns in Indiana and then the list of names.

John looked over the paper Katie handed him and then asked:

"Is this all you could find on the case?"

"Oh I know a lot more, but that's all you need to tell the boys." Katie replied, "They can figure out the rest."

"I hate sending them after something with so little information."

"Hey , trust me on this. They'll figure it out. They're really good, especially when they're together. Now, there's a pay phone right outside our room. Just give me a few minutes to hack into the phone company and we'll be all set."


	4. Chapter 4

_Nother big thanks to SciFiNutTX for playing beta for me. And thanks to everyone reading and reviewing._

_**Chapter 4**_

Katie grabbed her laptop and headed out the door. John followed her. She looked at the phone for a second and then sat down in the grass with her back to the booth. A few minutes later she told John they were all set. John looked at her one last time, giving her a silent plea. Katie just pointed at the phone behind her and told him to start dialing.

"Sam, is that you?" John said into the phone.

Katie was surprised that Sam had answered Dean's phone.

"I'm fine."

"Sammy I'm alright. What about you and Dean?"

"Sorry kiddo, I-I can't tell you that."

"Look, I know this is hard for you to understand, but you're just gonna have to trust me on this."

"Yeah, it's a demon Sam."

Katie listened intently to her father's words. She could just imagine the looks on her brothers' faces when Sam answered the phone. She was hoping that this wouldn't cause a fight between her brothers, but somehow knew that it would.

"I do. Listen Sammy, I uh, I also know what happened to your girlfriend. I'm so sorry. I would've done anything to protect you from that."

"Yeah, I think I'm finally closing in on it."

Katie noticed the change in the tone of John's voice. He was switching from dad mode to hunter mode now.

"You can't, you can't be any part of it."

"Listen Sammy, that's why I'm calling. You and your brother, you gotta stop looking for me. Alright, now I need you to write down theses names."

John was in complete hunter mode now. Sam was gonna get mad and Katie knew it.

"Look, we don't have time for this. This is bigger than you think, they're everywhere. Even us talking right now. It's, it's not safe."

"I've given you an order. Now you stop following me and you do your job, you understand me? Now take down these names."

Katie knew almost before John said his name that Dean had taken the phone from Sam at that point.

"Dean, I can't tell you that. You and your brother are to stop looking for me this instant. That's an order."

Katie could hear Dean's response of "Yes sir" almost as if he were standing right in front of her. Dean never questioned dad's orders. Not even when they were dumb, like she thought this one was.

"Good, now I need you to write down these names."

Katie stopped listening after that. She waited for John to finish his phone call and then reset the phone system back to the way it was. When she stood up, John was still in the booth starting at the phone.

"John." Katie said. "John, snap out of it."

"What, what's up?" John asked.

"Come on old man, we got work to do."

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Katie tossed John the keys to his truck and then went and got into her usual place on the passenger side. John looked from her to the phone and then followed her example. It had felt so good to talk to his sons again. He had nearly told them everything because deep down he was hoping they would find him. He hadn't realized how much he missed them, Sam especially, until he'd heard their voices. None of that mattered now, Katie was right, they had work to do.

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He drove them to a house on Jeffie Russel Circle. Two days before there had been a fire at that house. The mother and 8-year-old son had been killed, leaving the father and a 6-month-old boy the only survivors. The top floor of the house was nearly completely destroyed because the remoteness of the house had made it harder for the fire department to get to.

Katie got out and went into the house while John poked around outside. There were traces of sulfur everywhere and the EMF was through the roof. She searched every room of the house, but there were no clues as to where the demons next target was so she went back outside to find her dad. When she got out there, the truck was gone. She called out for John in the off chance that a couple of punk kids had taken it, but there was no answer. She headed for the spot where the truck had been parked and lying in the dust of the dirt road was her laptop. She also found a large amount of sulfur in the area that hadn't been there when they got out of the truck. John must have tossed the computer out before who ever, or what ever, grabbed him could drive away. At least now she had a way to track the truck.

"Hmm, " she said to herself, "I guess the old man did know about the GPS tracking device I hid on his truck."


	5. Chapter 5

_Nother big THANK YOU to everyone reading and reviewing. Even bigger thanks to SciFiNutTX for playing beta for me._

_**Chapter 5**_

Katie opened her laptop to start the program and saw the low battery warning. She decided it would be better to just shut it off and hoof it back to the motel as fast as possible. A dead laptop was not going to help her find her dad and besides all the weapons, save the 2 9mm's she kept in a holster on her back, had been in the truck.

Halfway back to the motel she suddenly decided she needed help. She thought about calling her brothers, but they were busy and John didn't want them involved with this particular hunt. Instead, she dialed Racheal Singer's #.

"Hello" a somewhat sleepy voice said.

"Racheal, it's Grace."  
"Hey, what's up sis?"

"I need your help. John Winchester was just taken by a demon, truck and all."  
"John Winchester, as in your DAD, John Winchester." Racheal said in a rather surprised voice.

"No, John Winchester that invented the Winchester rifle. Can you help me get him back, or are you busy?"

"I just finished a job in Macon, Georgia. Where are you?"

"I'm in Juliete."

"Cool, see you in about 15 minutes."

"Hey Rache, make sure you call your dad and Caleb so they know where your going. Me being rogue on Caleb is bad enough."

"Sure Grace, and I'll tell Caleb your still alive while I'm at it."

"Thanks Racheal, see you soon."

Katie hung up her phone and jogged the rest of the way back to the motel. She got there just as Racheal pulled up in her '77 Camero. Katie was too out of breath to say anything so she just pointed to her room and tossed Racheal the key. They walked into the room and Katie plugged in her laptop so it could charge and so she could turn on the tracking program. She had just gotten her breath back enough to tell Racheal what had happened when her cellphone rang. Katie looked at the caller ID and immediately answered it.

"Sam, what's wrong? Is Dean ok?" Katie tried, but couldn't hide the concern in her voice.

"Yeah, he's fine." Sam replied, "Did dad call you earlier today?"

"No, why what's going on?" Katie had already guessed, but had to pretend she didn't know what had happened.

" Well, dad called Dean's cell from a pay phone in Sacramento to tell us to stop looking for him and send us on a job in Indiana."

"Ok, so why are you calling me? I know there has to be something wrong or you wouldn't be talking to me right now."

"Well, Dean and I got into a fight because I wanted to go to California to find dad and he wanted to follow dad's orders."  
"Son of a bitch. It was just an argument right, there weren't any actual punches thrown?"

"No punches, I promise, but right now I'm in the middle of nowhere Indiana and Dean is headed for Burkitsville."

"Wait just a damn minute. You're telling me he left you in the middle of nowhere in the middle of the night. What the hell, Sam?"

"I told him to. I was wondering if you could come pick me up and help me look for dad in California?"

"Sam, I'm sorry. I'm in the middle of a job with Racheal right now and I can't just leave her alone, her dad would kill me. I can however, send a friend of mine to get you."

Katie took a quick look at her computer screen and then continued. She tried to ignore the puzzled expression on Racheal's face.

"Jade and her brother Max are in Indianapolis. Where are you exactly?"

"I'm on a 2 lane highway headed toward Salem." Sam answers.

"Ok, I want you to go to the bus stop when you get to Salem. I'll have Max and Jade pick you up from there and bring you to me in Georgia. By the time you get here, Racheal and I should have this job cleared up and then you and I can head for California. Will that work for you?"

"Not really, dad could be gone by then. I'll just catch the first bus to Sacramento and you can meet me there when you can."

"Ok, but Sam."

"Yeah."

"Be careful. Dean would never forgive himself if something happened to you."

"I will. See you back in Cali."

Katie hung up the phone and started pacing the room. She thought about calling Dean, but decided it would be better if he called her. She needed to get to work on finding John anyway.

"Damnit, damnit, damnit. I knew this was gonna happen I just knew it." Katie yelled.

"Woh, what's wrong sis?" Racheal asked.

"I made John call the boys so they knew he was ok. Sam and Dean got into an argument because of it. Now Dean's working a job _alone_ and Sam is on his way to look for John in California."

"I thought John was here in Georgia with you."

"He is, or was till a demon grabbed him. I hacked into the phone company and rerouted the call so Dean's caller ID said it was from a payphone in Cali, instead of the one right outside. John doesn't want the boys to find us. Course he doesn't want me with him either, I just didn't give him a choice."

"So what do you want to do here?"

"We gotta find John. If anything happens to him, it would kill Dean. Sam should be ok until I can pick him up and Dean's worked cases alone before so he should be ok too."

"So how do we find your dad?"

"I hid a GPS tracer on his truck. Hopefully they didn't take him far away from it."

"Is that how you knew Max and Jade were in Indianapolis?"

"Yahtzee."

"Now I know why Caleb always called you first if he was looking for one of us. You really are a sneaky little witch. So where's John's truck?"

"Parked on Clark Drive in Macedonia, 170 miles north of us."

"Well, let's clean this room out and get going."

They loaded John and Katie's duffels into the Camero and then wiped all the prints from the room. Fifteen minutes later they were on the road, breaking speed limits to get to John before the demon could do too much damage to him. Katie refused to believe that her father was already dead. John Winchester was just too pig headed and stubborn to die that easily.


	6. Chapter 6

_Special thanks to SciFiNutTX and Laceym for playing betas for me. I'd be lost without them. Here's a little more brother/sister banter since you all seem to like it so much. Thanks for reading and reviewing._

_**Chapter 6**_

They were half way to Macedonia when Dean called. Katie answered her phone and started chewing out her older brother.

"Dean, what the hell were you thinking? You left Sam?" Katie yelled.

"He told me too. He's on the same revenge kick as dad and we were pressed for time on this job." Dean replied.

"I know. I just wanted to know what was going on in your head." Katie had instantly calmed down when she heard her brother's voice. Dean always did have that effect on her.

"He's about to follow the same path dad has been on for our whole lives. I don't wanna see him make the same mistakes." The sadness in Dean's voice was unmistakable.

"I don't think he will Dean. You and I wouldn't let him go that far."

"Wait a minute, the fact that you already knew about this means he called you. Doesn't it?"

"Yeah, he called a couple hours ago. I bout had a heart attack cause I thought there was something wrong with you. He wanted me to meet him in California."

"And you're not going to get him?" Dean said in mock anger.

"I'd love too," Katie replied, "but I'm in the middle of Georgia with Racheal and we have a missing person to find."

"That missing person wouldn't happen to be our dad would it?"

"No, it happens to be _her_ dad. Bobby came down here on a job and hasn't checked in for almost 2 weeks."

"Maybe he's with our dad."

"Yeah, Bobby would be so happy to see John after Bobby threatened to kill him the last time they were face to face."

"Hey, stranger things have happened."

"Ok, not that I wouldn't love to talk to you on the phone all night, but we both have work to do. Was there something you needed big brother?"

"I was gonna ask you to go after Sam."

"I got that all worked out. He's gonna catch a bus to Sacramento and I'm gonna meet him there as soon as I can."

"Sounds good to me. Call me as soon as you're on your way there and as soon as you find him"

"I will Dean. You be careful and don't do anything stupid."

"Hey, you know me."

"Yeah," Katie laughed, "that's why I said don't be stupid."

"Well," Dean tried to sound offended, but couldn't hide his chuckle, "love you too little sister. I'll call you soon."

"Not unless I call you first. Bye Dean."

Katie hung up the phone and got a bad feeling in her stomach. She had given the boys just enough info for them to figure out the Vanir job together. She wasn't sure if Dean could do it on his own. The very few jobs he had worked by himself he'd always called Katie to help him with the research part cause he'd gotten stuck and frustrated. Since Sam had joined him, he only called to make sure she was ok, to tell her bout the last job he worked, and to tell her if something was bothering him. Things had gone back to the way they were while she was in college the first three times.

After deliberating with herself for a few more minutes, she figured out what was bugging her so much. Dean knew she was working a case of her own. He would consider finding a missing family friend more important than helping him. He wouldn't call if he got stuck on something and his frustration would eventually lead him to doing the last thing she had asked him not to do.

She almost let her devotion to Dean stop John's rescue, but stopped herself before she said something to Racheal. It was that same devotion and urge to protect Dean, from everything she possibly could, that kept her mouth shut. Dean saw John as a hero and mentor, as well as a father. That combination, as well as Dean's own fierce devotion and urges to protect his family, would only cause him to spin out of control if something were to happen to John. That was far more dangerous to him than anything else.


	7. Chapter 7

_Another thanks to laceym and SciFiNutTX for keeping me on track and dealing with my insanity on a daily basis. Thanks to everyone reading and reviewing. I'm glad you all are enjoying this._

_**Chapter 7**_

The rest of the trip to Macedonia was pretty quiet. Racheal drove, while Katie tried to get more info about the location. John's truck was sitting outside an abandoned carpet factory. The place had just recently shut down, so most of the equipment was still there. Katie managed to pull up the blue prints on the building so she could get a better idea of the layout and figure out where in the building they would be keeping John.

"So what's the plan?" Racheal asked.

"I think we need to do a little recon first," Katie replied, "see exactly what we're dealing with. If the situation is really bad then we may have to pull John as soon as we get there."

"So if it comes to that, you want me to play sniper again?"

"Exactly. I'm hoping there's only one demon, but I don't think we'll be that lucky. Something tells me they were planning this for a while. We've never found that much sulfur at one of the fires before."

"You think the whole thing was a trap? Well that's just great."

"Yeah, tell me about it. This means that they are worried about John."

"After tonight they better be more worried about us." Racheal said.

"And I'm spossed to be the crazy one." Katie laughed.

They finished gathering their stuff and headed for the factory. It only took a few minutes to get there, but it seemed like forever. They climbed up onto the roof and dropped in from the skylight in the main office.

"Hey Rache?" there was an obvious shake to Katie's voice.

"Yes, dear." Racheal replied, trying not to laugh cause she knew what the next question was gonna be.

"Why is it that every time you and I hook up for a job I have to go up in the air?"

"Because I'm not afraid of heights and you need to face your fear."

"I think you just like to torture me."

"Well, there's that too."

"Man, even John let's me keep my feet on the damn ground." Katie grumbled.

They found John in the middle of the old warehouse. He looked pretty beat up and he was obviously unconscious. There were three people in the room and one of them started to hit John with a piece of wood just after the girls entered the room on the catwalk.

"They're gonna kill him." Katie whispered to Racheal.

"Well, so much for doing recon first. I'll try to pull all three of them out, but no guarantees." Racheal said in a reassuring voice.

"Just be careful Rache. As soon as they get close you head for the car. Bobby would kill me and John if you got hurt."

"No, worries sis. Just get your old man and let me do the rest."

They split up from that point on. Racheal waited until she saw the signal from Katie and then started firing. She nailed all three guards right between the eyes. If they had been human, they would have dropped right where they stood. Instead they looked up at the cat walk where Racheal was hiding and then ran for the stairs. Racheal waited until they could see her and then went back out the skylight she and Katie had come in.

Katie waited until she couldn't see the guards anymore and then ran across the room to John. He was still unconscious and bleeding pretty badly in several places. They had not only been hitting him with that board, but it looked as if he'd been shot several times. She checked to see if he had a pulse and then quickly untied him. It was a good thing she'd spent all her spare time at Stanford lifting weights cause she had to carry John out of there.

She picked up her father in a fireman's carry and headed for the exit that was closest to John's truck. She had just tossed John into the passenger seat when she heard some one come up behind her. She spun around and drew her guns in one swift motion. Standing there was a man with a bullet hole between his eyes.

"Now, just what do you think you're doing?" the demon asked.

Katie didn't answer, she just started firing. There was smoke coming from the holes she put into the demon because she had loaded both of her guns with pure iron rounds. It slowed the demon down just long enough for her to crawl over John into the driver's seat, slam the passenger door, and drive away. She thought about going back to the motel, but decided that John's injuries were too severe to patch up on her own, so she went to the nearest hospital instead. On the way, she called Racheal to let her know where she was taking John and that they had gotten out ok.

Katie parked the truck in front of the emergency room doors, jumped out of the truck, and ran to the reception desk.

"I need help!" she yelled, "My dad's out in the truck and he's been shot!"

The lady at reception called out to a couple nurses behind her and they followed Katie out to John's truck. They loaded him onto a gurney and then took him inside. They tried to make Katie stay in the waiting room, but she refused. She was still arguing with a couple of the nurses about it when Racheal arrived and pulled her out of the way.

"Katie, you gotta let them do their jobs." Racheal said.

"I know that, but they can work around me." Katie snapped back at her friend.

"He's gonna be fine." Racheal said soothingly, "Why don't we go get some coffee so you can calm down a little bit?"

Katie took a deep breath and then nodded. Racheal was right, it would be a lot easier if she were out of the way and not contradicting the doctors orders. Sometimes her medical training just got in the way. She needed time to think of a story to tell the cops when they showed up anyway. She told the receptionist she was going to the cafeteria and then followed Racheal down the hall.


	8. Chapter 8

_Special thanks to ScifiNutTX and laceym for still puting up with me. Thanks to everyone reading and reviewing._

_**Chapter 8**_

It was nearly 12 hours before they would let Katie and Racheal into the ICU to see John. He'd nearly died in surgery twice. Both John's legs had been broken, as well as both arms. There were also extensive internal injuries from the beatings and the bullets. He'd been shot 4 times. Surprisingly there was no significant head trauma so the doctors believed he would be just fine as long as no infection set in. Katie and Racheal settled in to wait for John to wake up. They were both asleep when he finally did wake up 2 hours later.

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It took John a few minutes to realize he wasn't in the factory anymore. When he looked over to his left, he saw his daughter sleeping in a chair next to him. She was curled up in her usual position. Bobby's daughter, Racheal, was sleeping in the chair behind her. He started to reach his hand up to brush Katie's arm, but she woke up when his hand was a few inches away from hers.

"Hey, old man. How you doing?" Katie asked him quietly.

"Been better." John replied hoarsely, "Where are we?"

"Macedonia, Georgia."

"How did we get here?"

"Demons grabbed you from the house we were investigating."

"Did they get you too? Are you ok?"

"I'm fine John. I don't think they knew I was there. As soon as I knew you were missing I called Racheal and she helped me get you back."

"But your laptop was in the truck. How'd you track it?"

"I found my computer in the road where the truck had been parked. You must have tossed it out the window just before they drove away. How long have you known about the tracer anyway?"

"Quite awhile. You left the program running once. I was gonna pull it off my truck as soon as I found where you stashed it. Glad I didn't."

They sat there in silence for a few more minutes before John spoke again.

"So what's my damage?"

"Boy, " Katie laughed, "I don't even know where to start."

"Ok, smartass. Let me rephrase the question. How long am I gonna be in here for?"

"Well, there were some pretty bad internal injuries. Collapsed lung, laceration to your spleen, things like that. Plus both your arms and legs are broken, but the breaks aren't too bad. Luckily you have such a thick skull so there's no head trauma." Katie said that last part with a laugh.

"You really have spent too much time around your older brother." John tried to sound annoyed, but it didn't work out very well.

"How do you know its not the other way around?" Katie said with a smile.

"Because he's older, so I get to blame him for being a bad influence."

In the middle of that sentence, John tried to stifle a yawn but failed.

"Uh oh," Katie teased, "Looks like it's time for the old man to take another nap. Now, you just shut your eyes old man and let the nice medicine do it's job. I'll be here the next time you wake up."

"Hey, Katie." John said.

"Yeah John."

"I'm glad you're here."

"Yeah, sure you are." Katie replied, sarcastically.

John looked at his daughter and saw the smile in her eyes that wasn't on her face. He watched her whisper something to her friend and then grab her phone out of her pocket as she left the room. She was probably going to check in with her brothers. She always did after they finished a job, even if she couldn't give them all the details.

He loved that his children were so close to each other in spite of all the bad decisions he'd made while they were growing up. He fell asleep knowing that they would be ok no matter what happened to him. That was if Katie ever let anything too bad happen. It still hurt him that she only called him by his first name, but she was coming around according to Caleb. He saw it too. She seemed more relaxed around him than she used to be and was joking with him more and more.

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Katie left her father in Racheal's care and walked out to the parking lot to make sure no one had gotten into the truck.. She also decided to call Sam and see if he was still headed for California. He answered is phone on the second ring.

"Hello." Sam said.

"Hey, Racheal and I finished our job. You still want me to meet you in Cali?" Katie asked.

"Nope, I'm back with Dean. We're gonna sleep for a few hours and then look for our next job."

Katie breathed a sigh of relief. She had hoped that the boys would work out their problems.

"That's the best news I've heard all day." Katie told her younger brother.

"Yeah, well with dad off god knows where and you doing your own thing, some one has to keep Dean out of trouble."

"Don't you mean _try_ to keep him out of trouble."

"That too."

"Hey, tell Dean I'll call him later. I gotta get back inside."

"Inside where?"

"The hospital in Macedonia, Georgia. Bobby got a little beat up, but he's gonna be ok."

"Are you ok?"

"I'm fine. Didn't even get a scratch."

"Are you sure?"

The concern in Sam's voice made her feel a little better about the whole situation John had put her in. Her little brother was finally warming up to her.

"I'm fine Sam. I promise."

"Ok, let us know if you need anything."

"I will. Don't forget to tell Dean I'll call him later."

Katie hung up her phone and then went back into the hospital. The doctors would be in soon to check on John. Katie knew that as soon as John thought he was well enough, he'd start fighting his treatment. Katie decided to make arrangements to get John out of the hospital first thing in the morning. She'd try to get him to stay for at least a week and then take him to Kila. It's not like he could get far with 2 broken legs anyway.


	9. Chapter 9

_Thanks to SciFiNutTX and laceym for paying bete for me. You guys should really go read their sories cause they're a lot better at this than I am. Thanks for reading and reviewing._

_**Chapter 9**_

Katie walked out of the cabin, slamming the door behind her. They had been in Kila, Montana for two weeks and John was driving her crazy. She understood that he was frustrated, but enough was enough. She had her phone out and was dialing Dean's number, before she even realized what she was doing. On the fourth ring, she realized it and then started to get worried cause Dean should have answered by now. When his voicemail picked up, she hung up the phone without leaving a message.

She thought about going back in the house, but decided to walk down to the lake and get some air. Racheal was in the house if John decided he needed something. She walked down to the lakeshore and sat on the bench that Dean had made for her 8 years earlier. She was thinking about the 3 months she and Dean had been on their own after Laura died when her phone rang. She looked at the caller ID and then answered it.

"Hey, Dean. How's it going?"

"Hey. Where are you?"

Something about his voice made Katie's hair stand on end. She knew immediately that there was something wrong.

"Dean, what's wrong?" Katie said. She knew she sounded scared, but that didn't matter.

"I need to know where you are." Dean replied.

"I'm in Kila with Racheal. Dean, I know there's something wrong. I can hear it in your voice. Please, just tell me so I can help?"

"I don't think you can fix this one, Graceful. I really screwed up this time."

"You got hurt? What about Sam? Just tell me where you are and I'll be there as soon as I can."

"Sam's fine. We're in Greenfield, Iowa. I need you to come get him."

"Dean, you're scaring the crap out of me here. Just tell me what happened."

"Oh, nothing much. Just had a minor disagreement with one of my juiced up tazers and a puddle of water."

"Oh good god. How bad is the heart damage?"

"I tell you I got electrocuted and you go straight to heart damage. How does that work?"

"I graduated from med school, remember? Please, just answer the question."

"Docs say I got maybe a month."

"I'll be there as soon as I can. Just hang in there, you hear me."

Katie hung up her phone before Dean could say anything else and then ran back to the cabin. Racheal was sitting on the porch swing when Katie got there.

"Racheal. Whe- where's John?" Katie gasped.

"I gave him a sedative to shut him up for a couple hours. What's wrong?"

"I need to get to Iowa. De- Dean's hurt, bad. I- I gotta get t- to him."

"Whoa, whoa, whoa. Slow down sis before you have a heart attack or something. Just breath for a minute and then tell me what you want me to do."

Katie took a few deep breaths while Racheal stood watching her. As soon as she had her breathing under control, she started again.

"Dean is hurt. They're in Greenfield, Iowa. I need you to stay here with John. Don't let him answer his phone and don't let him leave. He'll just get in the way in his current condition. I'll be back as soon as I know Dean's ok."

"Alright, take the Camero. Call me as soon as you get there and let me know if there is anything I can do to help from here."

"I will, just remember. John _cannot_ find out about this. I don't care if you have to keep him sedated the entire time I'm gone. He will freak the fuck out."

"Oh god, it's that bad? Just go already. I'll take care of your dad."

Katie ran into the cabin, grabbed a few things, and then took off. Half way to Iowa, she got a phone call from Sam.

"Sam, are you ok?" Katie already knew the answer to that question, but she asked him anyway.  
"I'm fine, Grace. Listen, I'm calling about Dean."

"I already know, Sam. I should be there in a couple more hours."  
Katie heard the sigh of relief that came from her little brother.

"Sam, listen to me." Katie tried to put as much reassurance into her voice as she could, for herself as much as for Sam, "He's going to be just fine. Just take a deep breath and keep telling yourself that. I'll be there as soon as I can."

"Thanks, sis. I'll see you soon."

Katie hung up her phone. It took her a minute to realize that Sam had called her "sis" for the first time in her life. Now she knew for sure that everything was gonna be fine. That one word, coming from Sam, had given her the confidence she had tried to instill in him. She knew that between the two of them, the youngest Winchesters could save their older sibling.


	10. Chapter 10

_Here's a nother chapter for ya. Thanks for al the reviews and special thanks to SciFiNutTX and laceym for keeping my butt in line. Ya really gotta love those girls._

_**Chapter 10**_

John woke up on the couch, in front of the TV. It was dark outside and he could have sworn that sunset was still a few hours away. He though about it for a second and then he figured one of the girls had slipped him a sedative...again. He really wished they would stop doing that, but he understood it, to a point. He'd never been laid up this bad before and he absolutely hated it. He was also pretty mad at himself for not seeing that trap for what it was and he was taking it out on his daughter and her friend.

He still didn't remember anything between getting out of his truck and the first gunshot, but he wasn't really sure he wanted too. He knew he had screwed up some where along the way on that last job. Most people would want to know what mistakes were made to prevent them from happening again, but not John Winchester. To him it was just another screw up in a lifetime full of them and he wished he could forget them all, especially the ones he'd made with his children.

Speaking of his children, his daughter should be appearing shortly with his dinner and his meds. She had him on a pretty tight schedule as far as that went and refused to let up no matter how many times he asked her too. When Katie still didn't appear 10 minutes later, he started to get worried and called out for her.

"Katie? Katie, are you alright?"

"She's not here." a voice answered from the kitchen.

"Racheal? What do you mean she's not here?"

"Your boys managed to get themselves into a pretty tight jam with a job." Racheal said, "She went to go help them out. She should be back in about a week."

"The boys? They aren't hurt are they?" John didn't attempt to hide the fear in his voice.

"Not as far as I know." Racheal lied, "She said they were just stuck and she was afraid Dean would end up doing something stupid in his frustration."

Racheal came out of the kitchen carrying a tray with a KFC bucket of chicken, two glasses, and a bottle of Jack Daniels. She set the tray down on the table in front of John and poured them both a healthy belt of the whiskey before handing him his pills.

"Racheal, you're as bad a liar as your old man." John said in his stern father voice, "Katie wouldn't leave unless one of the boys was severely hurt. Now are you gonna tell me the truth, or am I gonna call Bobby?"

"Yeah, I'd love to hear that conversation. Papa Bear would drive up here before you even said three words and beat us both silly."

"You know, I still don't know what I did to piss him off so bad."

"Would you be surprised if I told you it really had nothing to do with you?" Racheal said with an odd expression on her face.

"Actually, yes I would." John replied, "Wait a minute. It was because of Dean wasn't it?"

"Wow, you are quick on the uptake. Dad caught Dean and me fooling around in the back of one of the junkers." Racheal replied, "Grace was upstairs at the time and dad knew that she'd kick his ass if he threatened Dean. It was just easier for him to chase all three of the male Winchesters off by threatening to shoot you."

"Well, wasn't that nice of him." John said sarcastically.

John and Racheal spent the rest of their dinner in silence. Racheal was just clearing the dishes away when a phone rang. They both knew it was John's phone.

"Where's my cell phone?" John asked.

"I have no idea. Grace stashed it somewhere so you couldn't answer it." Racheal replied innocently.

"Now why the hell would she do that?"

"Cause you're grounded until the casts come off. Her words, not mine, by the way."

"I need to know what is going on with my children." John said, anger rising in his voice.

"Yeah, let's not get into that subject cause you really won't like what I have to say." Racheal sniped back.

"Actually, I'd love to hear from some one who actually grew up with my daughter, since she won't tell me anything."

"Why should she? You're the one that left her and Laura with us. If you really wanted to get to know her, you should have kept them with you, or better yet, left all four of them at Caleb's. Laura would probably be alive now and they both could've had a real relationship with Sam."

"Katie has a relationship with Sam." John said quietly.

"NO, SHE DOESN'T!!! Grace has talked to him maybe 3 times in the last 6 months and only about the damn job. Whatever friendship they had at Stanford flew right out the damn window when Jessica died. He didn't know that she was really his sister until that morning and he's been mad at her ever since. He doesn't trust her at all because he thinks she's been lying to him since the first time they met when we all worked that job together with my dad 10 years ago. He still calls her Grace for crying out loud. The worst part is that she thinks she deserves it. Grace blames herself for what happened to Jessica because she couldn't save her. She thinks Sam has the right to kick her ass just because of that. You really screwed them all up. You should be the one getting beat up, not Grace."

Racheal was out of breath by the time she was done. She just stood there trying to catch her breath and glaring at John, daring him to tell her something different. John looked at Racheal for a second and then dropped his eyes. He was a little surprised because he had heard almost the exact same words come from Racheal's father, Bobby, once. This girl was definitely a Singer and he was glad his daughter had found such a friend. After a few more minutes of silence, John finally spoke.

"You're right. About all of it."  
"What did you just say?" Racheal said with a look of total shock on her face.

"I said you're right. I can never repair the damage I've done to Katie. I don't even know where to start trying."

"I do." Racheal snapped, "How bout you call your boys, tell them exactly where you are and what you're doing. Let them help you for crying out loud. This involves them too, especially Sam."

"I can't do that. " John said quietly.

"Why the hell not? This demon is after Sam. Don't you think he and Dean have the right to know that so Dean can protect him better?"

"I don't know everything myself. Wait a minute, how do you know that?"

"Grace told me. She figured I had a right to know since the damn thing killed my mother and older brother just like it killed your wife and Sam's girlfriend."

"What?!?" John said as his jaw dropped open, "Bobby never mentioned that."

"Yeah, well dad thought his child was more important than stupid revenge. Unlike some one else I know."

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Racheal stormed off into the kitchen with her last statement. She was tired of the conversation anyway. She slipped up the back stairs to her room and locked herself in for the rest of the night. She knew Grace was gonna be mad at her for the things she had said, but John had forced the issue. She only hoped she had given the oldest Winchester a few things to think about.


	11. Chapter 11

_Special thanks to SciFiNutTX and laceym as usual and thanks to everyone reading and reviewing. Ezraduke: hope this answers that question you asked me earlier. I kept things from John's point of view for "Faith" cause I wanted to show what he may have been going through while Dean was hurt._

_**Chapter 11**_

John watched Racheal walk out of the room and then heard her stomp up the back stairs and slam the door to her room. The one thing he hated more than anything was people telling him how he should handle his children, but this was different. Racheal had been raised almost exactly the same as Katie. They both went through the horrors of the foster care system and both had been left with Caleb. Racheal had become a sister to his girls and vice versa. Racheal Singer was the only person on the planet that knew exactly how Katie felt about things because she had lived most of it with her.

He sat there quietly for a few minutes, staring at the bottle Racheal had left behind. The more he stared at it, the more he became convinced that something very bad had happened to one or both of his sons. He also knew there wasn't a damn thing he could do about it given his current situation. Katie was gone and she had hidden his phone, so he had no way of finding out either. He decided the only thing he could do was bury himself in the bottle and pray for Mary to protect their children again.

John woke up the next morning with a killer hang over. His breakfast was on the table in front of him and Racheal was nowhere to be seen. He just shrugged and ate his breakfast. He had just set the plate back on the table when Racheal came in the front door. She was carrying bags from the store in town. He was about to say something to her when she shot him a dirty look and then walked into the kitchen to put the groceries away. He heard his phone start to ring again and had just decided to ignore it when Racheal came out and dropped it into his lap.  
"It's Sam calling." Racheal said, and then she walked back into the kitchen

John stared at his phone for a second and was about to answer it when it stopped ringing. He waited a few minutes and then checked all the missed calls. There were seven total and all of them were from people listed in his journal. He started to listen to his messages and all his fellow hunters had the same thing to say.

"Call Sam, something bad has happened to Dean."

When he finally got to Sam's message, his heart tried to leave his chest.

"Uh, hey dad it's Sam. Uh, Dean's sick and the doctor's say that there's nothing they can do, but uh hey, they don't know the things that we do right? So, uh, don't worry cause I'm gonna do what ever it takes to get him better. Uh anyway, I just thought you'd wanna know. Bye."

John stared blankly at his phone. The desperation and fear in his youngest son's voice completely crushed him, then the anger took over. His oldest son was dying and his daughter had deliberately tried to keep him from finding out. He immediately dialed Katie's number, but it rang over to voice mail. That only made him angrier, so he dialed again and still got her voicemail. On his third try he heard the phone pick up and Katie's voice talking to some one else.

"You sure you can make it down the hall?"

"I'll be fine." That was Dean's voice, "You just answer the phone and come into the room when you're done. I need to warn Sam that you're here anyway."

"He already knew I was coming. He called me a few hours after you did." Katie said.

"He called you, not the other way around? Guess you're growing on him Katie girl."

John was thinking that Dean sounded pretty good for a dying man when Katie finally started talking into her phone.

"I see I need to teach Racheal how to hide things from you better."

"What the hell happened to my son?" John demanded.

"The short version is that he electrocuted himself and had a massive heart attack. The damage to his heart is extremely severe and the docs gave him maybe a month to live. Is that what you wanted to hear?" Katie snapped back.

John dropped his phone. He could hear Katie calling his name, but it didn't register. Racheal had come in when she heard the phone hit the floor and immediately ran to pick it up.

"Grace, no it's Racheal. He's fine, I think. What's going on?"

Racheal listened to her friend for a few minutes and then turned to John.

"John, you need to talk to your daughter right now."

John nodded to Racheal and then took the phone from her hand.

"Katie, please tell me that was a very bad joke." John pleaded with his daughter.

"I'm sorry John. I didn't mean to say it like that." Katie replied.

"So, what's the plan?" John had slipped into hunter mode to keep from breaking down completely.

"I'm gonna check in with Sam and see if he's come up with anything. If he hasn't, then I'm bringing both of them back to Kila with me so we can work on the problem together. Caleb has called in the whole crew to work on this. He's gonna be fine John, I promise. I'll call you back in a couple of hours."

John didn't have time to respond because Katie hung up her phone. He thought about calling her back, but changed his mind. It sounded like Katie had everything under control. The only thing John could do was sit and wait for his daughter to call him back. It took him a few minutes to realize that Racheal sat down on the couch next to him.

"He's gonna be fine." John said quietly, "Katie promised he would be."

"Then I know he will be. Grace never makes a promise she can't keep." Racheal said.

"Why do you do that?" John asked.

"Do what?"

"Why do you call her Grace?"

"She told us about 2 days after you left her at Caleb's that the only people allowed to call her Katie were Dean and Laura. As far as anyone one else was concerned her name was Grace Reynolds. She didn't want anyone to know she was your daughter because she was ashamed of you, I think."

"Do you know where she got that name?" John asked.

"Nope, she and Daisy never told me that little piece of information" Racheal replied.

"Well, 'Reynolds' was their mother's maiden name. 'Daisy' came from a birthmark that Laura had on the back of her left shoulder. 'Grace' is short for Graceful, from when Katie was learning how to walk and she kept falling down. Dean gave them those nicknames."

They didn't say anything else to each other until Katie called a few hours later. The phone call was pretty short. All Katie told them was that Sam had found a solution and they were headed for Nebraska. She couldn't really give any details cause Sam was keeping them to himself. She said she'd call back as soon as Dean was better.


	12. Chapter 12

_I hope you al like this chapter. I think it's kinda cute myself, but I'm weird. As usual, thanks to SciFiNutTX and laceym for putting up with my insanity and thanks to everyone else for reading and reviewing._

_**Chapter 12**_

The fear and devastation John felt was written all over his face. His son was dying and he couldn't even see him. He thought about calling Dean's phone, but Katie had told him that would be a bad idea. She didn't want to be in the middle of a fight with the boys. John understood that. He knew his boys would have flipped out on their sister for hiding their father from them.

John completely shut down about an hour after Katie's last phone call. He never heard his phone ring a few hours later and Racheal tell him that Dean was fine. He just kept replaying memories of Dean over and over in his head. He finally realized what Katie had been trying to tell him for the last 4 years. He had taken his oldest son for granted the boy's entire life and now his son was dying, probably already dead.

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John stopped eating, stopped doing anything. After the second day, Racheal called Katie.

"Grace, are you coming back soon?" Racheal asked her friend.

"I was planning on heading home in the morning." Katie answered, "Why?"

"I think John has convinced himself that Dean's dead."

"Didn't you tell him that my brother was ok?"

"Yeah, I told him, but I don't think he heard me. About an hour after you called to say you were headed for Nebraska, he just got all weird. He hasn't eaten anything in 2 days. I don't know what to do."

"Alright, just keep an eye on him. I'll leave now and be back as soon as I can."

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Katie hung up her phone and started packing her stuff. She had been trying to sleep when Racheal called her. The boys were in the room next door, probably asleep already. She thought about waking them and taking them to Kila with her, but she didn't want to fight with them or John. She decided it would be best to just leave. She could always call the boys later and come up with some kind of excuse. She loaded her stuff into Racheal's car, took one last look at the hotel, and then headed back to Kila, Montana.

She'd been driving for about 8 hours when her phone rang. She didn't look at the caller ID thinking that it was Dean wanting to know where she'd run off too.

"I know, I know." Katie said, "I'm sorry Dean, but Caleb said he needed my help."

"I'll be sure to tell him that." Sam said.

"Sam, is everything ok?"

"We're good. Dean is talking to Layla right now. I went to your room to talk to you, but you weren't in it."  
"Yeah, Caleb called late last night, said he was stuck on a job and needed my help."

"I wanted to thank you. I don't think I could've made it through this if you weren't here."

"No worries, Sam. That's what sisters are for."

There was a long pause, and then Sam completely surprised Katie with his next statement.

"Katie, I'm sorry."

"For what, Sam?" Katie asked.

"I've been acting like a total ass when it comes to you for the last few months. I may not like the fact that you kept being my sister a secret, but I understand why you did it. I guess part of me blamed you for what happened to Jess too. I may not know what happened, but I'm sure you did everything you could to save her. I just forgot that she was your best friend and that you lost her too."

Katie didn't know what to say. Sam was actually apologizing to her and she didn't think she deserved that.

"Katie, say something." Sam said.

"I really don't know what to say Sam." Katie replied, "I really don't deserve an apology from you."

"Yeah, you do. You're my sister, it's way past time for me to treat you as such."

"Hey , Sam."

"Yeah."

"Geek."

"Witch."

They were both laughing at their last remarks. Katie was about to say something else when her phone beeped.

"I gotta go Sam. I got another call. I'll talk to ya later."

"You better, or I'll sic Dean on you." Sam replied.

Katie couldn't help but smile as she checked her phone and then switched over to her other call.

"Hey, Dean. How you doing?"

"Not so good." Dean replied.

"Yeah, I kinda figured."

"I was hoping you'd stick around for awhile. Kinda needed you close."  
"I'm sorry, Caleb called late last night and said he needed help."

"Why didn't he call one of the others?"

"Because I had them all working to find a way to help you. I haven't had a chance to call them all yet and let them know you're ok now. Well, physically at least."

"It's just, I can't talk to Sam the same way I do you."

"I think you should try." Katie said, "He understands a lot more than you think."

"I take it you two worked a couple things out?" Dean asked.

"Yeah, I think so. I was on the phone with him just before you called. Anyway, what happened to that guy and what's happening to Layla isn't your fault. None of us had any way of knowing what would happen. You shouldn't take everything on yourself like that. It's gonna eat you up one day."

"Can't help it."

"I know, that's what makes you who you are. It's also what makes you the bestest big brother on the planet." Katie said with a small smile.

"Shut up."

"I don't wanna." Katie said in her best little kid voice.

"You are such a brat." Dean said with a laugh.

"Peanut brain."

"You're gonna think 'peanut brain' when I wrap you in duct tape and throw you in my trunk."

"You gotta catch me first." Katie laughed.

"Hey, Graceful. Thanks."

"That's what I'm here for."

Katie hung up her phone. She spent the next 10 hours on the road trying to figure out how to snap John out of his depression.


	13. Chapter 13

_Angst galore in this chapter. Thanks to everyone reading and reviewing. Special thanks to SciFiNutTX and laceym as always._

_**Chapter 13**_

John was in a complete haze. He kept replaying memories over and over again. When he'd played all the memories of his sons, he went back to before Mary's death. It seemed like he was really there. He could even hear their voices and smell his Mary's lotion. Suddenly there was something out of place. He heard Mary calling him, but it was coming from outside his memories.

"John. John, look at me."

He tried to ignore it, but Mary's voice became more insistent.

"John Winchester, you look at me right now corporal."

"Mary," John whispered, "I'm so sorry. I killed him. I killed our son. Dean is, oh God, he's dead."

"No he isn't. He's just fine. I just saw him about 18 hours ago. John you have to snap out of this.

Something about the voice changed, it was starting to sound less like Mary and more like his daughter, Katie.

"He's alive. How can that be? Katie said his heart was damaged."

"John, I swear to you he's fine. Sam found a way to fix him and I saw it with my own eyes. I've got pictures of the three of us on my phone if you wanna see them. You can call him yourself if you don't believe me."

"He's alive. You're sure?"

"I'm sure. Daddy, please? You have to snap out of this. You're scaring me." Katie pleaded.

After a few minutes of John repeating, "He's alive." he shook his head. His vision seemed to clear and he finally saw his daughter kneeling in front of him. She had both her hands on his knees and there were signs of tears in her eyes.

"Katie?" John had a confused look on his face, "When did you get back? Are your brothers alright?"

He watched Katie take a very deep breath and let out a long sigh. John thought it was a stall tactic so he started to get a little angry.

"Katherine Winchester," he said in his drill sergeant voice, "you answer me right now."

"They're both fine, John. Sam found a way to save Dean. They're on their way to their next job right now. Why don't you sit tight and I'll go get you something to eat."

John watched his daughter stand up and head for the kitchen door. There was a slight hunch to her shoulders that wasn't there before so he decided to call her back.

"Katie."

She stopped as soon as he said her name, but she didn't turn around to face him.

"Katie, look at me."

He watched her take another deep breath just before she turned to look at him.

"Katie girl," John made sure she could hear his concern, "are you ok?"

"I'm fine, John." Katie replied, "I'm just a little tired. It's been a long week."

"Why don't you go upstairs and get some rest then. Racheal can look out for me for awhile."

"No, it's my responsibility and besides, Racheal isn't here. She went to go see Bobby. I'll get you taken care of and then I'll go grab a couple hours in my bed."

Before he could say anything else, Katie turned and walked into the kitchen. He knew there was something seriously wrong with his daughter, but he also knew she would never tell him. He could only hope that she would call Dean and talk to him. He knew he should call his son himself, but he was afraid to. He thought his oldest child would be angry with him for not being there when he needed his father the most. In an attempt to appease Dean's anger, he might tell his son what had happened and that would cause a rift between his eldest children that could never be repaired. Dean and Katie depended on each other too much for him to do that.

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Katie walked into the kitchen and nearly ran into Racheal.

"Hey, easy there sis." Racheal said.

"I'm sorry Rache. I forgot you were in here." Katie said tiredly.

"You really look like crap." Racheal teased, "Why don't you go upstairs and catch some Z's. I'll watch out for the grump."

"No, I'll do it. I'll slip a sedative into his food to knock him out for a while. Besides, I told him you went to go see your dad. Which is something you need to do."

"I'm not leaving you alone with him. You'll kill him by the end of next week."

"I spent a month alone on the road with the old man. I think I can handle four more weeks until I take his casts off."

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah, sis. I'm sure. Just hang out in here till he's asleep and then hit the road."

"OK, but you're gonna sit down and rest for a couple minutes while I finish making lunch for all of us."

Katie did as Racheal directed. When lunch was ready, she took John's out to him and then rejoined her friend in the kitchen. They ate in silence. Katie wasn't really in the mood to talk to anyone. Too much had happened in the space of a few days.

She had nearly lost it when she walked into that hospital in Iowa and saw her older brother a few days earlier. She had read his chart and all the test results before walking into his room, but she still wasn't prepared to see him like that. Dean's skin was completely white and pasty looking. His eyes were red rimmed and sunk into his head. He almost looked worse than when he was in a coma for three months.

She had been completely freaked out about the whole thing until after the doctor at the clinic told Dean he was fine. She stayed with the boys afterwards to keep an eye on Dean and help them with a job. She had thought about staying with them for a while and letting Racheal handle John, but then Racheal had called her. She knew things had to be really bad and just took off.

Getting back to the cabin and finding John in that state. He looked exactly like Dean had in Iowa. It had truly rattled her to the point that she let down all of her defenses and begged John to be ok. She had even called him "Daddy" for the first time since she was two years old.

When he finally came out of himself, he didn't seem to remember anything she had said to him. He had taken her sigh of relief that he was ok as a stall tactic and he went into drill sergeant mode. That tone in his voice had immediately snapped all her walls back into place. She hated that tone in his voice and wanted to smack him every time he used it with her.

"I think he's asleep now."

Katie nearly jumped out of her skin at the sound of Racheal's voice.

"Yeah, ok. You should get going then." Katie said.

"You're sure about this?" Racheal asked.

"I'm sure. Bobby is probably worried sick about you."

"Ok, if you need anything, you know my number."

"Thanks, Rache. I'm sure we'll be ok."

Katie saw her friend off and then checked on John one last time before curling up on the other couch and going to sleep.


	14. Chapter 14

_This chapter is a set up for something in the next story as well as the next chapter, which is gonna be al kinds of fluffy. Special thanks to SciFiNutTX and laceym for putting up with my insanity, you really should go read their stuff too. I would also like to give a special thanks to Ezraduke and fairyofmusic, they always leave me such great reviews on every chapter. Thanks to everyone else for reading._

_**Chapter 14**_

Two weeks later, Katie took John into town for some x-rays. She wanted to check the progress of the breaks in his arms and legs to see how much longer it would be till she could take his casts off. It was a pleasant surprise to learn that she could remove the casts that day. A full two weeks earlier than they had expected. She decided however, that they would stay in Kila till the end of the month to do a little psychical therapy so John could get the rest of his strength back. John reluctantly agreed.

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It felt good to him to finally be able to walk. He was finally able to check out his surroundings. Katie had gone into town to fix a couple of cars and he was bored, so he decided to check out every room in the house. What he found there actually surprised him.

The first floor of the house was just like any other, but something still felt off to him. There were no pictures of family anywhere that he could see, until he came to the room at the end of the short hall. He was completely shocked when he opened the door. The walls were completely covered with paintings and pictures of his family.

He recognized a few of the paintings because he had seen them before. Laura had done them herself. The photographs were mostly school pictures of the boys he had given to Caleb to keep safe for him. He had never expected to see them framed and hanging up.

John walked into the room so he could look at all the pictures more closely. When he turned to his left, he got another shock. There was a large painting of his whole family together. The girls looked to be about fifteen in that picture, Sammy was thirteen, and Dean was seventeen. Surrounding the painting on three sides were five 5x7 picture frames. The boys on one side, girls on the other, and a picture of himself and Mary at the bottom. Laura must have used those pictures to do the large painting.

Below that were four file cabinets. Each cabinet had three drawers and a word written in black marker on the top of the first drawers. The first cabinet had Laura's name on it, the second was Katie's, the third was Dean's, and the last said hunting. He opened the first drawer of the cabinet with Laura's name on it. Inside he found stacks of white envelopes written in Dean's childhood handwriting. He then opened the top drawer on the three remaining cabinets. It took John a minute to realize that he had found their letters.

Every letter Dean had written to his sisters and vice versa was right in front of him. He couldn't believe it at first. All those letters had actually survived everything his eldest children had been through, including Laura's death. He grabbed the first letter from Katie's cabinet and began to read.

_Dear Graceful,_

_Things are mostly ok. Dad is gone a lot because of his new job. Sometimes he comes home with bruses and stuff, but he always says that he's fine. I'm not so sure bout that sometimes. He still drinks a lot, but nowheres near as much as he did after mommy died. I wish he would stop it, but I don't think that will ever happen. I wish you and Daisy were here. It's hard taking care of Sammy all by myself. He cries a lot more than he used to, but I think that's cause he misses mommy and Daisy. Don't tell her that though cause it will only make Daisy sad. I miss haveing you to play with. I hope you can write me back, but if you can't that's ok too. I just wanted you to know that I was ok, a little sad, but ok._

_Hugs and kisses from me, dad, and Sammy._

_P.S. Pastor Jim helped me find you and Daisy in case you were wondering. If you can write back, send the letter to the address on the enlevope with his name on it. Oh and one more thing, Happy Birfday. How does it feel to be 3?_

John turned the letter over and on the back was a small picture of a cake with 3 candles on it. The cake was drawn so that it looked like some one had taken a piece. Underneath it was written:

_I hope you don't mind, but I kept a pece of cake for me and Sammy to share._

John folded the letter back up, placed it back into it's envelope, and put it back on the stack he had taken it from. He then closed all of the cabinets and left the room, making sure to close the door behind him. He went back into the living room and tried to watch some TV, but his curiosity got the better of him. He decided he wanted to know more about the contents of those letters so he went back into the room at the end of the hall and settled himself on the floor in front of the file cabinets.

He restricted himself to reading the letters Dean had written to Katie. Laura had always told him everything when he called her. Dean had always been closed off to his father and brother when he was growing up. John thought it was about time he really got to know his oldest son, specially after nearly losing him a couple weeks earlier.

A few hours later he heard his truck pull into the driveway. He had been careful while he was reading to put each letter back where he had found it so all he had to do was replace the current letter he was reading and walk out of the room before Katie walked in. It was easier said than done. Five weeks in casts had made his muscles a little stiff. He had just enough time to open the door before Katie called out to him.

"Hey, John. I brought back a present for you."

"Oh, why would you do that?" John asked.

There was a flash of anger when he looked at his daughter's face, but only for a split second.

"I see you found our picture room." Katie said coolly, "You didn't get into the file cabinets did you?"

"No," John lied, "I was looking at all the photographs and paintings. Where did you get all that stuff?"

"From Caleb and Dean mostly. The paintings Laura did herself from the pictures."

"Exactly who does this house belong to anyway?" John asked, trying to change the subject.

"Dean and me." Katie replied, "It didn't look like this when we first got it, we've put a lot of money into it to make it look like this."

"Wait, you mean that you and your brother _own_ this house? How long have you had it?" John said in a mildly shocked voice.

"Yes, we bought it about 8 years ago." Katie replied.

"Huh, the things you learn about your kids."

"Yeah, well. Anyway, I rented a couple of those movies Dean said you liked and bought some beer. Thought we could just hang out tonight."

"Sounds good to me." John said happily.


	15. Chapter 15

_Ok boys and girls, here's the nice big fluffy chapter I promised. Thanks for the awesome reviews. SciFiNutTX and laceym are 2 of the coolest people I know cause they put up with me._

_**Chapter 15**_

After a quick dinner and one movie, they decided to play poker. When they got bored with that, they went outside and watched the stars. There was a tension between them and John desperately wanted to ease it, so he broke the silence.

"So," he said, "you gonna tell me what happened in Nebraska?"

"Nope." Katie said bluntly.

"Why not? Don't you think I have a right to know what happened to my son?"

"So call Dean and ask him."

"I'm asking you." John was starting to get a little angry with his daughter.

"Not my story to tell."

Those five words from Katie reminded John of his son. Dean had said the same thing to him once when he'd asked something about Katie. He looked over at his daughter and for a second, thought he was looking at his son. There was an expression in her eyes he'd only ever seen from Dean, but there was a slightly harder edge to them. This time it was Katie that broke the silence.

"Why'd you do it?" Katie asked just after she looked away from him. There was a sadness to her voice that instantly had John's attention.

"Why did I do what?" John thought he knew what she meant, but just wanted to be sure.

"Why did you leave us at Caleb's? Other than the fact that you couldn't bring yourself to tell Sam about us. I mean."

"I wanted you to be safe." John replied. He was surprised that she was asking about Nevada instead of Kansas. "I didn't want you to be hunters like your brothers and me. I didn't know Dean had told you everything until later when Laura told me."

"I know that's not everything. I'm a big girl John, I can handle the truth."

John didn't know what to say. How could he tell his daughter that he had been afraid of her? He had acquired all of the records social services had on his girls, including the psych reports. The shrink had thought that it would be too dangerous to reunite Katie with her brothers. The man had believed that she would act out toward them as a way to get back at her father for abandoning his daughters. If he had known then what he knew now, he never would have left his daughters in Nevada.

"I know you were afraid of me, John." Katie continued after a few minutes of silence, "What I don't understand is why."

John just looked at his beer and then finished it off. He was reaching in the cooler for another one when the tone of Katie's voice completely changed.

"John, please. I need to know what my sister died for."

That did it. He had to answer her now.

"She died because she wouldn't leave you." John replied sadly.

"What do you mean?" Katie whispered.

The look on his daughter's face nearly ripped out his heart. He wanted to stop and just hold her, but he knew she wouldn't allow him to do that, not yet anyway.

"I used to get phone calls from Caleb once a week, telling me how you girls were doing. After a month, when it became painfully obvious to me that you would be fine there on your own, I started asking Laura if she wanted to come home when I called her. She always said the same thing; she wasn't going to leave you alone. She would always ask why I wanted to do that to you, but I never told her."

He watched his daughter for a second. He knew exactly what she was thinking because Dean would have thought the same thing. She was blaming herself for what had happened to her twin. He also knew there was nothing he could say to make her stop doing it.

"What was the reason?" Katie finally whispered.

"Before I picked up you girls, I pre-texted as a social worker so I could get a hold of your files. The psych evaluation they did on you said it would be too dangerous to reunite you with the boys. The shrink believed that you would hurt them to get back at me for leaving you. After reading his notes on you and reading the police report about that boy that was killed, I believed it. I know now that the evaluation couldn't have been more wrong. Watching you with Dean while the three of us were working together and watching you with Sam at Stanford, showed me that. You'd die before letting anything hurt your brothers, especially Dean."

John never once looked at his daughter while he was talking. When he finally did look at her, he saw a tear roll down her cheek. Seeing his daughter like that finally broke him. He pulled her closer to him on the swing and wrapped her up into a tight hug. He was a little amazed that she didn't fight him and more amazed when she turned and wrapped her own arms around his waist.

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Katie reveled in her father's embrace. It was the first time in almost 23 years that her father had hugged her. She didn't realize how much she missed being held in his strong arms until that moment. They sat there quietly for a few minutes then John spoke.

"I'm so sorry Katie girl." John whispered, "I never should have left you girls behind."

"It's ok John," Katie said, "you didn't know what else to do."

After a few more minutes, they separated. Katie was thinking about her brothers again when John asked her another question.

"Why didn't you ask me why I left you girls in Lawrence when you were little?"

"Because I already know." Katie said, "Mom's family didn't give you a choice."

"How do you know that?"

"Mom's uncle Tim told us, just before he killed himself."

"When was that?"

"About a year before Laura died. We decided to go to college in Lawrence so we could find out what had happened."

"Do you brothers know?"

"Dean does, I don't know if he's told Sam."

There was another round of silence and then John asked her another question.

"What do you remember about your mom?"

"I remember she always smelled like vanilla cookies because of the lotion she used." Katie said with a smile, "I also remember what she used to say about us kids."

"What was that?"

"She said that God made Dean for you because you really needed a son. He made Laura for her because she needed a daughter. He made me for Dean because Dean wanted his own baby to play with. Then He made Sammy for Laura cause she needed some one to take care of because Dean and I always took care of each other and she felt left out."

"I can't believe you remember that."

"It's the only thing I remember from before the day she died."

"You know, it was obvious from the moment you were born that you belonged to Dean."

"What do you mean?"

"I took him to the hospital when you girls were about an hour old. He walked up and peaked into the bassinet Laura was in, then he walked over to the one you were in and did the same thing. He watched you for a few minutes and then stated quite clearly that 'This one is my baby. Mommy can have the other one.' I was shocked and your mom laughed. Then she encouraged him by asking him what he wanted to name you. Dean told us that he wanted to name you after my mom and his. It became even more obvious that you belonged to your brother when we brought you girls home from the hospital a few days later."

"How so?"

"Well, Dean had gotten a cold, so we wouldn't let him near you girls cause we didn't want you to get sick too. About five minutes after we got you settled into your crib, you just started screaming. No matter what your mother and I tried, you just wouldn't stop. You cried and cried for hours until you exhausted yourself, then you'd sleep for a couple hours and would start screaming again as soon as you woke up. Dean kept telling us that he could make you better, but we wouldn't let him try. We thought you had finally calmed down and were getting ready for bed, when you woke up and started screaming again. Your mother left and came back into the room holding Laura so you wouldn't wake her up. Dean came into our room and begged us one last time to let him 'fix you' as he put it. I sat him down on the bed next to Mary so he was sitting with his back against the headboard and then went and got you. When I came back, he had his knees bent up and told me to sit you on his stomach so your head was resting against his knees. I did what he asked and then sat down on the bed next to him. He brushed your cheek with his hand and you quieted down a little, but you were still crying. Then he started rubbing your stomach and he said 'Now Katie girl you need to stop crying. Mommy and Daddy are really tired and it's time for us to go to sleep.' You instantly stopped crying, turned your head slightly toward me, and went right to sleep."

"Does Dean know about that?"

"I don't know if he remembers it or not, but you two have been practically inseparable ever since. Even when you weren't actually together."

Katie let out a huge yawn and then shook her head. She didn't really want to go to bed yet. She was having a real conversation with her father for the second time in her life and she didn't want it to end yet.

"I think it's time for bed." John said

"I'm not ready yet." Katie replied.

"I think maybe you are, you just don't wanna admit it."

"And that's a bad thing?"

"Yes. You don't get enough sleep as it is. I know you only sleep about 4 hours a night, if that. When did that start anyway?"

"Right after mom died. Bad things happen if I sleep for too long. It's just the way it is."

"I don't think you have to worry about anything bad happening here."

"Yes I do, the minute I let my guard down, something bad happens. That's why Jessica died. I thought we were safe and then he came back and took her away from Sam."

Before John could say anything else, Katie ran into the house and up to her room. She didn't want to think about all the bad things. She got herself ready for bed and kept repeating the stories John had told her over and over again in her head so she would always remember them. She knew it was something she would have to tell Dean.

That night Katie dreamed that she saw everything John had told her about. It was the first time in over twenty years that she slept for more than four hours without being sedated and nothing bad happened.


	16. Chapter 16

_I hope you all enjoyed the last chapter. All kinds of father daughter bonding there. Thanks again to SciFiNutTX and laceym for putting up with my insanity. I really am surprised I haven't put them both in the looney bin by now. Thanks to everyone else reading and specially those that leaves reviews._

_**Chapter 16**_

A few days after their little heart to heart chat, Katie got a phone call from Dean.

"Sam's missing." Dean said.

Katie could hear a hint of panic in her brother's voice.

"Where are you?" Katie asked.

"Hibbing, Minnesota. Something took him."

"OK, just calm down and breathe. Tell me exactly what happened."

While Dean was telling Katie what had happened to Sam, John came outside with his bags. Katie motioned for him to be quiet.

"….I only left him alone for a second. Damnit!" Dean yelled.

"I'm about two days away. I want you to go to the cops first thing in the morning, see if you can get them to help you." Katie said, trying to calm her brother down.

"I think that's one of the worst ideas I've heard from you, ever."

"You said there was a traffic camera by the bar. It's the easiest way to get the footage. I'll be there as soon as I can."

"I can't lose him Katie."

"We won't. I promise. My Jeep just pulled up so I'm leaving right now. Call me as soon as you learn anything."

"I will."

Katie hung up her phone, grabbed two of her bags from John's truck, and headed right for her Jeep.

"What's going on?" John asked.

"Something took Sam. Dean is freaking out. I gotta get to him before he does something really stupid and gets them both killed." Katie said quickly

"I'm going with you." John said.

"No!" Katie said a little louder than she meant to, "You need to get to Dalhart, Texas before another family is destroyed. Heaven can help me with the boys."

"Katie…"

"John, just let me handle this. You showing up after they've been looking for so long would only be a distraction. We don't even know what we're dealing with yet. I won't let them get hurt John, I promise."

"You call me as soon as you get there and as soon as you find your brother."

"Yes, sir." Katie replied as she jumped into the Jeep.

She explained the situation to Heaven and of course, her friend had to have her own say.

"Well, that explains today. What about the last four and a half years?" Heaven asked indignantly.

"What do you mean?" Katie said.

"You call and check in with my dad once in awhile, but other than that we never see you. You said you'd come home after you finished college in San Francisco and you didn't. What the hell has been going on?"

"Caleb and Racheal didn't tell you?"

"All they've said is that you're working with the Winchesters. Most of the other hunters think those guys are dangerous. I mean, we operate on the fringe of normal society sure, but these guys won't even communicate with their fellow hunters. No one trusts them."

"Caleb does, so does Bobby, and Pastor Jim, as well as a few other people I know."

"These are the same guys that trusted Gordon Walker."

"You realize you're talking about your dad."

"Don't get me wrong, I love the guy, but he doesn't have a lot of common sense when it comes to people. Quit trying to change the damn subject. What makes the Winchesters more important then your own family?"

"They are my family."

"What?!?" The shock was written all over Heaven Johnson's face, as well as a little fear.

"John Winchester is my father. Dean and Sam are my brothers."

"Does that mean John is my uncle and his boys are my cousins?"

"No. We aren't related at all as far as I know. It was just a cover story so social services wouldn't take Laura and me back to Kansas."

"Well, I don't care you're still my cousin no matter what and if those guys are your brothers, then that makes them my family too. Let's go find them."

"Thanks, Heaven. Hey, why do you have my Jeep?"

"Dad wanted me to bring it to you. He said you might need it."

"Actually I don't right now, but you can hang on to it for me."

"Coolbeans. Now tell me everything I should now about my new cousins."

Katie spent the next two days describing her brothers to Heaven. She couldn't tell her friend everything because she didn't think the boys would like that. As soon as they got to Hibbing, Katie called John to let him know they made it to Minnesota and then she called Dean.

"Where are you?" Katie asked as soon as her brother answered his phone.

"Walking down a very muddy road with Sam." Dean replied.

"You found him! Awesome! Is he hurt?"

"He's fine. Looking at me like I'm crazy, but he's fine."

"What about you?"

"Small burn. Some dumb hillbilly tried to bar-b-que me with a fireplace poker. I'm sure you can fix it as soon as you come pick us up."

"Where's the Impala?"

"Parked at the police station."

"OK, I'll pick it up on my way by."

"Don't you dare hot wire my car!"

"I don't have to, you gave me a key. Are we getting forgetful in our old age?"

"Oh bite me."

"I will as soon as I find you." Katie said with a laugh.

"Now that's just gross."

"I know, but you shouldn't say things like that unless you mean it."

"Stop being a pain in the ass and come gets us."

"Ok, ok. Jeez, you're cranky."


	17. Chapter 17

_Thanks for the awesome reviews. Here's a little brother sister bonding for ya. Hope you like it. Just 2 more chapters to go after this one and I've already started the 3rd and 4th ones. And we can't forget the extra special THANK YOU to SciFiNutTX and laceym for putting up with me. They are my favorite people in the whole world._

_**Chapter 17**_

They found the boys about 20 miles from town. Katie pulled over to the side of the road and jumped out of the Impala. Heaven followed her from the Jeep.

"Are you two alright?" Katie asked.

"I'm fine." Sam replied. "Dean's pouting cause he got sidelined by a pregnant thirteen year old girl."

"Dude, I am _not_ pouting," Dean protested, "and Katie if you hot wired my car, I'm so gonna kill you.."

"Well, that explains why he was so cranky on the phone." Katie said to Sam.

"Hello, I'm standing right here you know." Dean said.

"You were right, cuz," Heaven said as she walked over to the Winchesters, "He is cranky."

"Who the hell are you?" Dean snapped at Heaven.

"Name's Heaven Johnson. I'm Caleb's daughter."

"No way." Dean said, "Caleb's daughter is only ten years old."

"Dean," Katie interjected, "Last time you _saw_ her she was ten. That was about nine years ago."

"Man, now I do feel old." Dean said dejectedly.

Everyone laughed at that comment, including Dean after a minute.

"Come on." Sam said, "We need to get someplace dry and one of us needs to patch up Dean."

Heaven got back into the Jeep with Katie and the boys got into the Impala. Katie followed her brother's lead. They drove for a total of four and a half hours, crossed the border into Canada, and stopped in a little town called Sprauge in Manitoba. Katie called John while she was on the road and told him that everyone was safe and she'd be meeting back up with him in a couple days. They got adjoining rooms at the first motel they found.

"Ok, off with the shirts big brother so I can check that burn." Katie said.

"It's fine." Dean said.

"Yeah, right. You gonna do it yourself or are the three of us gonna have to hog tie you."

As Katie said that, Heaven and Sam moved to stand on either side of him.

"Alright, alright, just call off your pets." Dean laughed.

Dean sat down on the bed and did as Katie asked. While she was checking him out, Sam turned on his laptop and Heaven made herself comfortable on the other bed to watch some TV.

"Now," Katie said, "you wanna tell me what grabbed Sam?"

"Just a bunch of redneck freaks that thought it was fun to hunt down and kill people." Dean answered.

"Dude," Katie said to Sam, "You got grabbed by actual people. Four years at Stanford must have really dulled your skills little brother."

Sam looked up at Katie and rolled his eyes, then went back to staring at his computer.

"See," Dean said, "that's what I said."

"This coming from the guy who, as Sam put it, was sidelined by a pregnant thirteen year old girl." Katie teased.

"I didn't wanna hurt the kid." Dean said defensively.

"Sure," Heaven chimed in, "and elephants grow on trees."

"Hey, not everyone can get the kind of training from multiple hunters that you girls did." Dean sniped.

"Ok, ok, enough picking on Dean. Poor big brother has had a very long couple of days." Katie said.

After that, the room got very quiet. Katie finished patching up Dean and then went to sit at the table with Sam. There was something obviously bugging the kid because he'd barely said two words to anyone since they got into the room. After a few minutes, Katie decided to give Dean and Heaven a distraction so she could talk to Sam alone.

"Hey Dean, why don't you and Heaven go get us something to eat.?" Katie said.

"Trying to get rid of us are you?" Dean asked.

"Yes, now go." Katie replied with a smile.

"Come on Heaven, I'll show you what it's like to ride in a real car instead of that thing my sister drives." Dean said with a smirk.

Katie watched them walk out of the room and waited until she heard the engine of the Impala running, then she said something to Sam.

"Sam, what's wrong?"

"Nothing." Sam said without looking up from his computer.

"Sam, that's the first word you've said since we walked into this room. I can see it written all over your face that something's bothering you. What is it?"

Sam looked up at Katie then and took a deep breath before he spoke.

"Have you heard from dad at all?"

"No. I almost caught up with him a couple times, but he disappeared." Katie lied.

"I've been trying not to think about it, but I'm afraid he's lying dead in a ditch somewhere." Sam said sadly.

"Have you said anything to Dean about that?"

"No, the few times I've tried to bring it up, Dean just brushes me off."

"That's Dean for you. He's got some twisted idea in his head that John is invincible. I'm sure the old man is fine Sam. You just gotta give him time to stop being so damn stupid and realize he needs our help."

"Yeah, I guess." Sam said glumly as he went back to his laptop.

"Sam, what's really bothering you?" Katie asked, trying to get his attention again.

Sam looked up at her with a rather sad expression on his face. She thought maybe that her being there was reminding him of Jessica, until he spoke.

"You're gonna leave again."

"What?" Katie asked with a confused look on her face.

"When we wake up in the morning you're gonna be gone." Sam said, anger rising in his voice, "Why did you even bother to come?"

"Because Dean said you were missing. Sam, I don't understand. Why are you mad at me?"

Sam practically jumped out of his chair and started pacing the room.

"Cause I'm tired of our family being scattered all over the damn country!" Sam screamed, "I just found out you're my sister and except for the two years we were at school together, I don't know a damn thing about you! What if something happens to you? I already lost one sister I know nothing about, I don't want to lose the other!"

When he had finished yelling, Sam slumped down onto one of the beds. Katie walked over and knelt down in front of her little brother.

"Sam," Katie said as she placed a hand on his arm, "nothing is going to happen to me or to John. I haven't been around because I thought you and Dean needed some time to yourselves. It tore him up when you told him to stay away from you the night you graduated from high school."

"I didn't think of that."

"You were too busy being mad at him. Plus, you and John have always taken Dean for granted."

"How'd this conversation go from being about you to Dean?"

"Cause he's the reason I've stayed away. Not because he asked me to, but because he needed me to. I can also move faster on my own. I've gotten close to John a couple of times. I probably would've had him this time if Dean hadn't called and said you were in trouble."

Dean and Heaven chose that moment to walk back into the room with dinner. Sam seemed to relax after his little chat with Katie. The guys seemed to be very interested in getting to know Heaven. Katie thought that was because they wanted to know a few things about their sister. Embarrassing moments seemed to be their favorite topic and they seemed to get a little frustrated with the nineteen year old because she wasn't very forthcoming with information.

It was nearly dawn by the time the four hunters went to bed. Four hours later, Katie woke up Heaven and left her sleeping brothers to join back up with her dad. She almost couldn't do it, but she knew John would never make it on his own for long.


	18. Chapter 18

_More thanks to SciFiNutTX and laceym. Some days I don't know how they handle the crap that comes out of my brain. Thank you to everyone for reading and reviewing. One more chapter after this._

_**Chapter 18**_

Two weeks later, Katie was sitting in another motel looking for demonic signs while John slept. They were in Warren, Pennsylvania now. The last place they stopped, a demon was waiting for them inside the house. It managed to do quite a number on her before John could trap it. She knew her wrist was broken and she had a couple cracked ribs, but she didn't let on to John how bad her injuries were. They exorcised the demon quickly and then hit the road.

They were getting more and more desperate to stop her father from finishing the game. It had gotten to the point that Katie was afraid to leave him alone for more than a few minutes, if she let him out of her sight at all. Thankfully, she had been taking the brunt of the attacks as of late. Seeing John in the hospital after the thing in Georgia had rattled her. She hated to admit it, but she almost saw John the same way Dean did.

After four hours of watching her new program search for the omens, she decided it was time for a shower. She thought it would help with the pain in her wrist and ribs. When she got out, she did feel a bit better, but decided to wrap her wrist with an ace bandage anyway. She had just come back into the room after wrapping her wrist outside by the truck when the alarm on her computer sounded. She watched John jump up off the bed with a gun in hand.

"It's ok, John." Katie said, "It's just my computer. It found something."

John looked down to Katie's wrist and then over to the computer, which was still going off.

"What did you find?" John finally asked her.

Katie ran over to the computer to see what it had found.

"Holy crap!" Katie exclaimed.

"What is it?" John asked.

"Massive signs. All the way around Chicago." Katie replied, "Looks like multiple demons."

Katie turned the laptop so John could see. She sat thinking for a few minutes. Something about it didn't seem right.

"I think it's another trap." Katie said.

"I think you're right." John said, "Is that the only signs your program picked up?"

"Yeah. Oh shit!"

"What?"

"The boys. They're in Chicago. What if the demons are trying to grab the boys to get to us?"

"How do you know that's where the boys are?"

"I talked to Dean a couple hours ago. He needed a little research help. They're hunting a daeva."

"Get your stuff and get in the truck."

"Yes, sir."

They were three hours outside of Chicago when John's phone rang. He grabbed the phone out of his pocket, but didn't answer it.

"Who is it?" Katie asked.

"It's Dean." John replied.

"So answer it. They need to know something might be after them."

"What if the two things are unrelated? We could be putting them in more danger."

"John!" Katie yelled, "Don't be stupid. There's no way this could be a coincidence."

John looked like he was about to answer his phone when it stopped ringing. Katie stared at him, trying to keep her anger in check. A few minutes later, John dialed his voicemail. Right after he entered in his pass code, he turned on the speakerphone so Katie could hear the message.

"Hey dad, it's Dean. Listen, we think we got a serious lead on the thing that killed mom. So uh, this warehouse it's at 1435 West Erie. Dad if you get this, get to Chicago as soon as you can."

Katie stared from her father to the phone in his hand. She wanted to yell and scream and just smack the old man, but didn't. Instead, she turned to look out the window of the truck as John pushed harder on the gas pedal. Her own phone rang a few minutes later.

"Dean, how's the daeva thing going?" Katie asked.

"We need your help." Dean replied flatly.

"What's going on?"

"We think this has something to do with the thing that killed mom."

"Did you call John?" Katie already knew the answer, but decided to keep her cover.

"Yeah," Dean replied, "I just got his voicemail."

"Ok, I should be there in two hours max."

"I thought you were in Pennsylvania."

"I was. I finished my job and thought you might need a little help since you called me when you and Sam got stuck on the research."

"Alright then. See you in a couple hours."

It took Katie a minute to catch the tone of her brother's voice. There was something wrong.

"Dean, what is it?"

"Just something with Sam. I'll tell ya later."

"You sure?"

"Yeah, it's not really that big a deal."

"It is to you."

"Katie, just get here ok."

She heard the click as Dean hung up his phone. Katie hung up her own phone and turned to John.

"They're not gonna wait. We gotta hurry."

They parked a couple blocks away from the warehouse. They were about to go inside when they heard glass shatter just around the side of the building. Katie spun around John and ran to the corner, afraid that she would see one or both of her brother's lying on the pavement. Instead, she saw a girl that looked like the one Dean had described to her when he called the first time. She didn't know John had come up behind her until he squeezed her shoulder. She turned to look at him and saw that he was looking up. She followed her father's gaze and saw both her brothers standing by the window.

"Do you know what hotel they're staying at?" John whispered into Katie's ear.

"Uh, yeah." Katie whispered back.

"Let's go."

"Where?"

"To your brothers' room. I wanna make sure they're alright."

Katie looked up at her father and then smiled.

"Bout time you stopped acting like an ass." She said.

She laughed as John shook his head and then headed back to the truck. Katie followed close on his heels.


	19. Chapter 19

_Here it is boys and girls, the very last chapter of this story._

_**Chapter 19**_

It seemed like an hour before the boys showed up. John stood over by one of the windows and Katie sat at the table watching her father. Her back was to the door so she nearly jumped out of her skin when she heard Dean yell. "Hey!" She turned to look at her brothers and then back to John. John had turned around and was standing there with a big smile on his face.

"Dad" Dean said.

"Hey boys." John said to his sons.

She watched John and Dean walk toward each other. A variety of emotions flashed across their faces. A split second later, father and son were in each other's arms. Katie looked over to Sam, who had stayed back by the door. She could see the hint of fear on her younger brother's face when he looked over at her.

Katie stood up and walked to the center of the room where her older brother and father stood. Sam seemed to get a little courage from her and followed her lead. The two youngest Winchesters reached John and Dean just as the two older Winchesters let go of each other. Katie was a little scared of what would happen next as John and Sam stood face to face for the first time in four years. She could tell by the look on his face that Sam felt the same way.

"Hi, Sam." John said to his youngest.

"Hey, dad." Sam almost whispered.

Katie moved to stand at Dean's right as her older brother started to speak.

"Dad, it was a trap. I didn't know, I'm sorry."

"It's alright. I thought it might've been." John replied.

"Were you there?" Dean asked.

"Yeah, I got there just in time to see the girl take the swan dive. She was the bad guy right?"

"Yes, sir." replied Sam and Dean together.

"Good." John said, "It doesn't surprise me. It's tried to stop me before."

"The Demon has?" Sam asked.

"It knows I'm close." John answered, "It knows I'm gonna kill it. Not just exorcise it and send it back to hell, but actually kill it."

"How?" Dean asked.

"I'm working on that." John said

"Let us come with you, we can help." Sam said urgently.

"No, Sam." John whispered, "Not yet. Try to understand. This demon is a scary son of a bitch. I don't want you caught in the crossfire. I don't want you hurt."

"Dad, you don't have to worry about us." Sam was starting to sound a little desperate.

"Of course I do. I'm your father." John said a little sadly.

Katie looked at each of the Winchester men. She couldn't believe how good it actually felt to see them all together for the first time in years. It was even better that she was actually standing there with them as part of the family, instead of an outsider like the few other times before when she and her brothers were still kids.

"Sammy uh," John started, "last time we were together we had one hell of a fight."

"Yes, sir" Sam said.

John looked down at the floor and then nodded before he spoke again.

"It's good to see ya again. It's been a long time."

"Too long." Sam said. There were tears welling up in her little brother's eyes.

After a few seconds of silence, John and Sam stepped closer and hugged each other. Katie looked over to Dean again and then squeezed her older brother's hand. She was a little surprised when he squeezed hers back and then didn't let go. She knew he didn't want this moment to end. Katie looked down at the floor as a thought crossed her mind. There was one person missing; Laura should've been here for this.

Dean must've known what she was thinking cause her squeezed her hand again. She looked up at him and then at her father and younger brother who were watching her intently. They all looked as if they were waiting for her to say something. She was about to do exactly that when there was a strange roar. A second later, John went flying across the room and bounced off the cabinets of the kitchenette. He slumped down to the floor as something hit Sam and knocked her younger brother to the floor as well. She heard Dean scream "NO!" just as she felt something hit her in the back that sent her flying in the same direction as Sam. She hit the wall right above her younger brother and heard something snap as she was knocked out cold. She came too just in time to hear Sam tell everyone to shut their eyes. She looked over to him and he was holding up a flare.

"These things are shadow demons, so let's light them up." Sam called out.

A few seconds after Sam ignited the flare, Katie heard several things scream out in pain. The smoke from the flare made it hard to breath and she could hear the others coughing as much as she was. Sam came over to her and helped her up, then he half carried her as they headed for the door.

"Dean, John where are you?" Katie called out.

"We're right behind you." Dean answered.

The four of them ran out of the building, as fast as they could manage with Sam holding Katie up and Dean helping John. They made it to the Impala and Katie leaned against it, holding her right arm close to her because her hand was now broken to go along with the broken wrist she already had. She watched Sam throw the duffel bag he had been carrying into the back seat.

"Alright come on," Sam gasped out, "we don't have much time. As soon as the flare's out, they'll be back."

"No, wait, wait." Dean said, "Sam wait."

Katie locked eyes with her older brother and then nodded. She knew what he was gonna say. She watched him take a couple deep breaths before looking over to John.

"Dad, you can't come with us." Dean said.

"What?" Sam said, "What are you talking about?"

"But you boys are beat all to hell." John said to his oldest.

"We'll be alright." Dean said.

"I'll take care of the boys John, just get the _hell_ out of here." Katie gasped out.

"Dean," Sam said, his anger rising a bit, "we should stick together. We'll go after this demon together."

"Sam, listen to me." Dean said loudly, "We almost got dad killed in there. Don't you understand? They're not gonna stop. They're gonna try again. They're gonna use us to get to him. I mean, Meg was right. Dad's vulnerable when he's with us. He-he's stronger without us around."

Sam turned to John as Katie walked around them all to stand next to Dean again.

"Dad," Sam said, as he grabbed John's shoulder, "no. After everything, after all the time we spent looking for you. Please, I-I gotta be a part of this fight."

"Sammy, this fight is just starting." John said as he grabbed Sam's wrist, "and we are all gonna have a part to play. For now, you gotta trust me son. Ok, you gotta let me go."

"John just go. I'll make sure the boys are ok." Katie said.

Dean turned to look at Katie and then shook his head.

"Katie, no. You go with him."

"No way, big brother." Katie said, "I'm not leaving you like this."

"GO!" Dean yelled, "Dad needs you more than we do right now. They don't know about you. You're the only one that can keep him safe."

Katie looked at both of her brothers and then to her father, who was standing by his truck with the driver's side door open. She just nodded her head and then ran over to the passenger side of the truck and opened the door. John got into the truck and started the engine, but before she got in she called out to Dean.

"Hey, Dean."

"Yeah." he replied.

"I'll call you in a couple days."

A smile lit up Dean's face for a second.

"Not unless I call you first."

Katie smiled back at him and then got into John's truck and closed the door. She turned around and stared at her brothers out the back window as she and John drove off into the night. When she couldn't see them anymore, she turned back around and let out a long sigh.

"They're gonna be alright, Katie girl." John said reassuringly.

"I know." Katie said quietly, "I just wish we didn't have to split up like this again."

"Me too, but for now it's the only way."

"You know I'm gonna have a lot of explaining to do the next time I talk to them."

"Yeah, but they'll understand."

"Dean won't. I've never lied to him in my life until I hooked up with you in Lawrence."

"I'm willing to bet he knew you were with me all along. You two can practically read each other's minds. Everything will be ok."

"I hope you're right."

Katie turned her back to the window and curled up to get some sleep before it was her turn to drive. Just as she dozed off, she realized that John was right. Everything would be ok, eventually.

_A/N Ok all, I really, REALLY need you honest opinions of this chapter. The next story in this series is going to go through "Dead Man's Blood" to the end of "Everbody Loves a Clown" and be written pretty much the same as this chapter. I wanna add my OC to those eppies, but change as little of what happened in them as possible. Thanks to everyone who has followed this and a big THANKYOU to eveyone who has reviewed. My biggest thanks go to SciFiNutTX for fixing my mistakes and laceym for putting up with my insanity on a daily basis. LOVES YOU GUYS!!! I hope to have the next story posted very very soon. The tite of it is "The Last Reunion" so watch for that sometime after Monday._


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